What happened
On a dark night, a pilot without an instrument rating was ferrying an agricultural airplane back to its home base following the completion of unscheduled maintenance at a nearby airport. During the flight, the aircraft entered instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) approximately 10 miles short of its intended destination.
A pilot at the departure point observed the aircraft heading into an anvil-type cumulonimbus cloud characterized by severe cloud-to-ground lightning.
The aircraft was equipped only with a magnetic compass and an airspeed indicator. Following the entry into IMC, the pilot experienced spatial disorientation, leading to a loss of control. The airplane subsequently impacted the terrain at a high rate of speed in a nose-low attitude with a right 90-degree bank.